yellow-star cluster n. Starting with the upcoming 2009 budget, the Air Force will need at least $20 billion more every year to meet its modernization needs, he said. “I think this is really a yellow-star cluster,” Wynne said, describing the military term for sending a personnel-in-distress signal. “We’ve done what we can do, and we need help.” [EnglishMilitary] [full cite] (Sep. 27, 2007)
yellowtail n. The names the men and women are known by colloquially belie the true nature of the transaction, some research suggests: It’s sex for hire, where black men’s flesh is tied—at least temporarily—to white women’s pursestrings.…The tourist women get nicknames, too. British ones go by “Shirley Valentine” (from the 1989 hit movie of the same name, about a Liverpool housewife finding liberation in Greece). In Bermuda, they’re “longtails” or “yellowtails.” [EnglishDominican RepublicSex & Sexuality] [full cite] (Jan. 10, 2007)
Yentl syndrome n. Although a series of high profile publications in the early 1990’s documenting less invasive investigation and treatment in women generated intense interest in the arena of gender bias, some more recent reports assert that there is “No evidence for the Yentl Syndrome.” The Yentl syndrome being the term coined to describe the practice of treating women equally only when they were identified as being the same as men. [EnglishHealth] [full cite] (Sep. 14, 2005)
yes-and v. They stayed for over an hour and completely yes-anded everything we threw at them. There were moments where it felt like we actually did all know each other and you sort of forgot you were “acting.” [EnglishJargon] [full cite] (Jul. 3, 2009)
yesoterapia n. A technique called yesoterapia uses a hard cast or bandages moistened with water and plaster to make you look thinner. The good news: It’s painless, and the results are visible almost immediately. [ LanguageSpanish] [full cite] (Nov. 29, 2005)
yettie n. Yetties are the corporate version of yuppies—young entrepreneurial, tech-based, 20-somethings who’re usually followers of tech so advanced that they have no practical purpose. [EnglishIndia] [full cite] (Jul. 14, 2004)
yips n. After winning his first game against the Mariners on June 23, pitching six encouraging innings, Bierbrodt’s control looked lost again. In 1 2/3 innings Monday, he walked five batters. Once more, some misses could be measured in feet. In baseball, such misfiring is referred to as “yips.” They cost one-time Pittsburgh star Steve Blass his career. Most recently, St. Louis pitcher Rick Ankiel was afflicted with the yips in 2000. [EnglishUnited StatesBaseballSports & RecreationSlang] [full cite] (Jul. 3, 2004)
yips n. Putting always was hard, if not impossible, for Moody, who spent 14 years in the armed services. He had trouble with three-footers. He seldom had a clue on anything longer than six feet. He had what they call the “yips.”…If you’re a golfer and you have the “yips,” you don’t have to be told what they are. You also don’t have to be told you’re in trouble. [EnglishUnited StatesGolfSports & Recreation] [full cite] (Jul. 5, 2004)
yips n. The grass between the ball and the blade will cause a bit of run so allow for it and practice this shot at least twenty times the next time you go out, not that you will perfect it that quickly but having practiced it—it won’t give you those mental yips the next time you’re in that spot. [EnglishGolfSports & Recreation] [full cite] (Jul. 5, 2004)